terrydtx

No, only concierge class, all other classes except suites have to have lunch in OVC. mast grill or one of the open pay venues. This is one of the few benefits for Concierge class passengers.

Are you in a Suite? If so you could go through shoreside concierges to get them booked.

We try to book our HAL cruises with the early booking promo HIA which included the Crew Appreciation. I always check my invoices from HAL to make sure everything is there. I use a TA to book all my cruises because too many cruise line booking agents are inexperienced and IMO can't be trusted to tell you what is true on a booking. Your invoice from HAL should look like this from our Volendam booking next year and it shows all of the early booking HIA amenities we are getting. If it is not here you are not getting it.

Having just read HAL's cancelation policy there is no mention of transferring a paid cruise to another later one after final payment.

Even if you have travel insurance unless you have "cancel for any reason coverage" you may not be reimbursed unless you have a covered reason like health issues.

CO comes with Neptune and Pinnacle suites and does not need to be purchased separately. You also have access to the exclusive Neptune Lounge.

Pre Covid it was possible to upgrade at any bar the first day you boarded before you got your first drink. Post Covid it has not been possible. On the Oosterdam last year I got all the way to the Beverage manager after going to a bar first and was told by all that it was no longer possible. As I said earlier it may be more economical now to just pay the difference plus tips, we did not have that option last August. Our next two cruises we booked with the Early Booking HIA and have premium drinks, Wi-Fi and crew appreciation all included. It would be nice to have a way to upgrade from standard HIA to Premium HIA before you board. Celebrity did have a way to do that post covid, but like so many other things Celebrity took that option away in early 2022. Now Celebrity is taking paid gratuities out of their All-Included packages for cruise booked after Oct 4th and the generous OBC with Suites.

But it is a onetime limited menu for just that lunch. If we were not in a suite, I would do lunch at Raw or Sushi on 5 even if it cost extra.

On out last 2 HAL cruises we were unable to upgrade from standard HIA drinks to Elite on board or before boarding. With the new policy of paying only the difference between the $11 cap and the cost of the higher drink, I am not sure upgrading to premium is worth the cost. Lats year on Oosterdam the selection of wines by the glass in Elite were pretty limited in selection and a month later HAL changed that policy of only paying for the difference.

Well you just cured my ever considering a Cunard cruise, I mean "Voyage" Thank you for posting.

Other than aft facing and a few port hole balcony cabins there are no 'Regular Vernada" cabins on Apex, only the IV cabins.

If your standard drink package is part of HIA promo, you cannot upgrade to Premium (Elite) on the ship. I went round and round on this with the Beverage manager last year on the Oosterdam because pre covid we could upgrade on the ship at any bar. Fortunately on our next 2 HAL cruises we booked with the early booking HIA and got Elite drink package and the premium Wi-Fi.

If your luggage is going through a connection airport it is boarded on a plane as it is received without priority status behind bags already stowed away.. If your flight is a non stop or direct flight your priority luggage is usually first off.

We are doing a Cailfornia Coastal cruise with HAL in November, and we have booked a private wine tour of the Russian river and Sonoma while we overnight in SF. We are doing B2B NZ/Aus cruises on the Edge in January and most of our tours are wine tours, we have really gotten into Sov. Blancs and Pino Noirs from NZ this summer to be prepared. After the two cruises we are doing a 10 day driving trip from Melbourne to Adelaide and will be visiting several Australian wine regions. We leave in 9 days for Amsterdam to get on the Apex to cruise to Athens and then 5 days in Santorini for more wine tasting.

At least last year there was a Som in the Pinnacle Grill. I was surprised how few Washington State wines there were on the Oosterdam, but we did sail out of Italy.

When you board go to the excursion desk and they will take care of getting you all on the same excursions. Basic Wi-Fi is only available with the standard AI package. If buying the Wi-Fi on your own outside of AI it will be only Premium. All Suites with AI get the premium drinks and premium Wi-Fi.

No longer have them in the MDR, now your wine is delivered by one of you assistant waiters.

My saying is the best wine is free wine, lol I have to agree about Amarone Wine. We also like Puglia and Sicily wines.

Also one of our favorite regions, we try to stay away from over hyped and priced Napa,

Our favorite California wines are from Paso Robles and the Russian River area.

Last year on the Oosterdam boarding in Trieste we got our boarding time about 30 days out from the departure by finishing the online check-in, We had a 12:30 boarding time but we got to Trieste from Venice at 11:00 and boarded about 15 minutes later. At 11:00 the terminal was empty as it took until after lunch before they got busy. We entered pictures but they didn't use them and retook them when we checked in. You do not need to worry about uploading pictures as they will not use them.

As good as Two Buck Chuck AKA Charles Krug?

I like my oatmeal to be like your grits, when I get a spoonful I want them to stay on the spoon when I turn it upside-down. Not been able to get my oatmeal that way on a cruise so far.

You mean Chateau Gallo?

We had dinner last week at our favorite local 5 star restaurant and they have a sommelier that knew so much about every wine on their list I inquired about, I was very impressed. They have over 300 wines up to several thousands in cost.